Apple Bottom – Deekline & Dustin Hulton feat, Sporty-O
So, the blog is starting to look a bit like the kind of site that old folks talk about when they say all there is on the internet is sex and penis extensions, but that’s not going to stop me from posting this next vid by Deekline & Duston Hulton. Booya! Apple Bottoms ’round tha werrrld!
Mac Graham
Not to be confused with the Juno nominated Montreal progressive house dj, Max Graham, Mac Graham is (according to my pals at Resonancity) perhaps “the most oversexed ” R&B/Funk sensation to come out of London, ON. but this cat knows what he’s doing as he’s been working in the recording industry for just over two decades. Highlights of his career include a Juno nomination for his role in the McAuley Boys, a Boys 2 Men style group that some of you may remember, and a video for his song “You’ll Never Know” which got heavy rotation on BET Jazz.
Hot Chip – I Feel Better
Hot Chip | MySpace Music Videos
It looks like the Brits are all about feeling better these days, (see my post on dan le sac vs. Scroobius Pip’s ‘Feel Better’ below). I’m posting this because it reminds me of the dozens of cheesy music videos that I was in myself, while I was a minor Canadian celebrity video-ho (one of these days I will get a full reel together, I promise). I’ve thankfully never been in one that had me retching toxic space goo all over the band/actors, but I have come close.
While the vid is a bit tacky and over the top in its simplicity, it does have something to say about a boy band infested culture that the some of us are living in.
Found this one thanks to Tom Bracewell’s Rise World Wide.
Record Makers 10th Anniversary
Hibbity Jibbity! Leave it to Sebastien Tellier, Mr. Oizo and illustrators/directors, Mrzyk & Moricea, to make a music vid focused on a girls bum for the French house label, Record Makers.
Not only are we celebrating classy ass, but we are also embracing 10 years of the label, with many more to come. Felicitations mes amis!
Also check out the funky illo based iPhone game that they’ve released based on the same concepts used in the vid. Screenshots after the jump.
dan le sac vs. Scroobius Pip ‘Get Better’
Theyyy’re back! Dan Le Sac and Scroobius Pip are return to the scene with a new socially conscious album (The Logic of Chance) in their trademark cheeky spoken word electro ‘lit-pop’ stylin’. Ok…’Get Better’ is bit preachy, and less clever, than “Thou Shalt Always Kill’ and past hits, but I respect them for using their stature to bring attention to at-risk youth in London and the rest of the UK.
I have yet to hear anything else from the album, but I feel that there will be a great schism across the pond. Telling the youth to ‘smarten up and get a job’ does not always tend to go over well and is obviously a socially relevant hot button. The song echoes the After School Specials of the late 70s and 80s that some of us may have been brought up on.
Check out the vid below Directed by Richard Heslop (New Order/Happy Mondays/The Smiths), or download the the Villa vocal remix of ‘Get Better’ by right clicking here.
Flore (ft. Shunda K of Yo Majesty) – Feel Me
Youtube says that the vid was banned from MTV but I’d be surprised if it ever made it past their music programmers desk considering the amount profanity and topless slave/show girls. Reminds me a bit of Missy Elliot’s rhyming style meeting Christina Aguilera’s Dirty and with bits of Duran Duran’s Girls on Film.
Gella Mix w/ MC $pyda
Rising dub/breakbeats producer, Gella, just released this bumpy new promo mix. I’m really happy and surprised to see one of my early dnb mentors Marcus Visionary (or dj Marcus from CIUT’s The Prophecy, as older heads would know him by), has a track included.
Sub Slayers is owned by Jay Cunning who won ‘best contribution to breakbeat’ at Breakspoll awards at Fabric this February. The label is “committed to all things Dubstep, Bashment, Break- Beats and all manner of musical influences to push ting’s dem forward.”
Track Listings after the jump.
Big up!
Attack of the Snuggle Sluts
Internet advertising is getting more and more fetishistic with creepy, big brotherish banners from ‘The White Teeth People’ to plush items like the latest Snuggy clone, The Hoodie Footie.
And it makes you wonder, where the hell is all this shit coming from? Well, advertising is really a reflection,or mirror, of society. I bring attention to exhibit A, Chat Roulette, a site that connects you and your webcam with other users around the world, for one on one chats. A simple ‘next’ button allows you to cycle through users with the rare occasion of repeat. Sounds fun? Well if you have space or identity issues, you may feel a bit shy being in full frontal eye-contact with a perfect stranger, or, a perfect stranger’s stiff member. Yep, it’s become a haven for exhibitionists, or simply just gay men looking for jerk off buddies, which brings me back to the original statement of fetishism in our society. Are items like The Snuggy, The Snuggle Blanket, and its hordes of imitators a subconscious backlash to the Boomer’s unfulfilled Neo-Futurist fantasies?
Imagine being able to talk to your past self 20 years ago. “It’s the 21st century, and no, we don’t have flying cars, hoverboards, or replicators yet, but god damn it, we’ve managed to turn people into walking uteri with blindingly white teeth. Isn’t life grand?”
Mear One Life Images
Mear One is a visionary graffiti artist from LA who’s psychedelic murals and canvases have been blowing minds since as far back as I can remember. The vid is an interesting snapshot into the life of the artist, featuring I Against I by Massive Attack and Mos Def, from the Blade 2 soundtrack. You can learn more about Mear One at his website, or through the interview that I curated as Arts Editor at Format Magazine.
S.A. Andrée – There’s a Fault
I got this cd in the mail today. It’s origins are almost as mysterious as the North Pole must have been to Swedish national hero/explorer S.A. Andrée (great wiki article btw), who perished in a ballooning attempt to chart the region in the late 1800s.
No cheat sheets or liner notes were delivered, which is ok usually thanks to the godly internets, but there is next to nothing written up on these guys, save for a very mention on the Lex Records Youtube page, the same guys who are backing MF Doom’s latest work. After giving it a listen, I understand that these guys are minimalist noise/shoe-gazer indie band but who may have had a background in hiphop, but seriously, someone needs to work on promoting them a bit. All that is available online is a mysterious splash page here.
Anyway, it’s pretty good stuff. Moody blips, bleeps and bloops with some nice filters thrown in. The only aspect that throws me off a bit are the vocals which are not always the strongest aspect of the album, but do prevail for the most part. According to The Stranger, “you will like this album if you like Alias, Dash, or Fog” but I beg to differ. There is nary a rap, a rhyme or snare on ‘There’s a Fault’. Mostly apparent are 80s synth undertones, with references to The Cure and even NIN if you can let your imagination run wild in that direction. There is definitely a chilly vibe across the album. In fact, yes, this is definitely an album that you can file under Cold Wave.
Keeping with the Arctic explorer theme, track titles all reference things in the historical S.A. Andrée’s life. Like, track 2 is named From Svalbard, the remote Russian Arctic archipelago where the balloon crashed, track 3 is named after the fated balloon, the Örnen (eagle), track 5 is Profondeur 2M 10, etc etc, easy to see the point. I’m guessing the producers of the album are Swedish or have some kind of reverence/fascination for the Swedes or else they would not have named their band so.
